Learning Leadership


Home  >  Articles  > 
Learning Leadership

George Jucan

August 27, 2007






<A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.gantthead.com/clickCount.cfm?ID=243479"><IMG SRC="/flash/build_336x2804.gif" BORDER=0></A>
Most project managers have the accountability to deliver their projects, but few have the right level of authority required for the job. Without formal authority, the project manager can rarely force the team members to perform the assigned tasks and must rely on leadership abilities to motivate the people to get the job done.
 
Clearly, there are some people who are born to be leaders. History offers great examples of people with natural leadership capabilities that have been able to inspire and move millions: Alexander the Great, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King are just a few.
 
How about the rest of us? Well, it seems to me that a project manager must have some leading capabilities already acknowledged by the organization and peers, otherwise they would not have been entrusted with the project in the first place. For example, the desire of organizing the activity of others is a clear sign of leadership capabilities--not everyone wants to stick its head out of the crowd.



Please login/register to read the entire article.





sponsored announcements and special offers
"Selecting the Right Requirements Management Tool – Or Maybe None Whatsoever" – Get your free copy of this independent report by Forrester Research, compliments of MKS.

Ever tried to explain what you do to your Mom? It's not always easy…and "not easy," is not good. So, for those out there struggling to explain Quality Management, here's a quick 3 minute video to make life, well, a little easier. View Now!

Need to gain control of evolving business requirements? Want to drive clarity and context across the software delivery lifecycle? Watch this brief video discussing "Creating Value through Requirements Definitions." Find out about challenges that plague organizations and techniques, processes and tools to use to visually define, elaborate, collaboratively validate, and effectively manage your requirements.

Learn how to develop a measurement program to track project management performance and the impact it has on your organization with PM College's latest white paper, Mastering Performance Measurement!

Good things happen when you get involved with PMI. One global community. Many local ways to build your project management career. Become a member, join a chapter, earn a credential. Start, build or advance your career at PMI.org/community



"It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars and so on -- whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man -- for precisely the same reasons."
- Douglas Adams